Is Ukraine laughable?

I'm not following the news too much these days, but once in a while, I do come across the news on Russian TV channels. Predictably, they all start with Putin's 10 minutes on how good has life become in Russia, but here I'm risking to drift away... I was actually going to write about Ukraine.

Since Ukraine has chosen to start "westernising", particularly, since the latest turmoils didn't end up in the change of direction eastwards, all the news from and about Ukraine have been tinted by desperate attempts of sarcasm. Political maneuvering in Ukraine is never called anything but "the circus" or "playing democracy". Everything that comes out of this country is ridiculed by the Russian news agencies.

There is one thing I particularly dislike about the Russian foreign policy - the attitude "you are either with us, or against us". When it comes to humans, such kind of idealism is a sign of immaturity. Russia could do much better than kindergarten style whining and bullying.

Predictable surprises

The news from Russia today were all predictable and familiar like deja vu - flexing the oil-muscle (this time for Ukraine) and scheming to eternalise Putin's power. BBC's correspondent says that Putin's announcement came as a shock. I think a twist like that was predictable. Putin announced that he might aim for the post of prime minister of Russia after his presidential term. Will Russia become a parliamentary "democracy" now? Time will show. At least there are no limits to the number of terms one can serve as a prime minister, and that is something with potential for eternity.

On the positive side - my respect towards Ukrainian election "circus" is growing. Messy as it is, it looks exactly like the first steps of a new democracy. As one of the Ukrainian politicians wisely said - no-one knows the outcome beforehand, and that what makes it a democracy after all.